Jeffx wrote:Allen is lucky this isn't the old NBA, Andrew. Try this sh*t in the 70s, 80s, even 90s, and there'd be serious payback.
Very true. There are no enforcers to send a message of "knock that off" these days, and chances are they'd get a worse penalty besides.
To that point, I've seen a few (presumably younger) fans attempting a gotcha, saying "old heads love the Bad Boy Pistons and physicality, but are clutching their pearls over this". I mean, outside of Detroit, those Pistons teams weren't liked. A line has always been drawn when it comes to dirty stuff, and they were criticised for it. So was Bruce Bowen. There was more physicality back in the day and the paint wasn't as wide open with more defenders making an effort without trying to be dirty. That's what we liked. The Bad Boys were criticised, Stockton and Malone were criticised for their holding and elbows, and in the 2000s, Bowen was certainly criticised for pulling dirty plays when he was capable of being an exceptional defender without them.
That's more nuance than people care to worry about when they're looking for a gotcha argument, though.